When I decided to try my hand at writing a novel, I had no real idea how to start.  The first hurdle was really just coming up with the basic concept.  What would/could I write about?  One night while lying in bed, a phrase came to me; “Wormholes to Whales.” I didn’t really know what it meant, but it sounded interesting and there was something that told me there was a story here.

I began by writing something about this wormhole, and what it had to do with whales.  Just some basic concepts and ideas.  I knew I wanted a group of kid inventors to come across this wormhole, which they would call an Einstein-Rosen Bridge in an attempt to add some real scientific terminology and avoid connotations of “magic portal”, and eventually end up in this other world, where somehow, this whale helps them on their mission/journey.  After many edits, and re-writes, the whale pretty much disappears from my story, it has no real significance to the through line, plot, or any subplot, he is sort of background set dressing and a minor character in one short scene.  But the point is, he got me started on a path.  Eventually I strayed far from where I began, but without this beginning I would be nowhere.

The bottom line to this post is simply this; when you start out to write a story, let ideas flow into your mind and when something sticks, go with it.  You may stray far from where you began and eventually throw away the original idea entirely.  But without that beginning, you can be paralyzed before you ever begin.